OpenAI reportedly in talks to add Citigroup and JPMorgan to its IPO underwriting team

OpenAI is reportedly in discussions to bring Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase onto its IPO underwriting roster, joining Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in what’s shaping up to be one of the most anticipated public offerings in tech history.

The company is targeting a confidential draft IPO prospectus filing by late May 2026, with a public listing planned for September of the same year.

An $852 billion company that isn’t even public yet

OpenAI’s March 2026 funding round hauled in $122 billion, pushing the post-money valuation to $852 billion. That figure puts OpenAI in the neighborhood of some of the world’s largest publicly traded companies, before it has even rung the opening bell.

Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank, and Microsoft all participated in the funding round.

Wall Street banks have been quietly expanding their research coverage of large private companies like OpenAI, a departure from tradition where analyst coverage typically begins only after a company files publicly.

Crypto markets are already trading the hype

Crypto exchange OKX has initiated plans to launch perpetual futures contracts that would provide synthetic exposure to OpenAI’s private valuation, allowing crypto traders to bet on OpenAI’s price movements without ever touching an actual share of stock.

What this means for investors

A September listing would place OpenAI’s IPO squarely in the fall trading window. The involvement of four major banks suggests the company is aiming for a broad institutional allocation. OpenAI’s revenue trajectory and path to profitability will be the central debate once its S-1 becomes public.

The IPO pipeline beyond OpenAI includes comparisons to SpaceX, another mega-cap private company that has attracted similar speculative interest.